To begin, I am not the one that sent anything in for repair, I am just posting this in hopes of getting some attention from the powers that be at RIM, and the general public.
An avid forum member at www.crackberry.com named Smakberry sent her PlayBook in for repairs due to a power issue. The device was dying, showing no charge when it has a charge, and only working when plugged into the wall. After going through the process of contacting RIM, getting an RMA issued, sending it in, and waiting... she received a reply... as copied below.
Thank you for contacting BlackBerry Technical Support. It has been a pleasure to work on this issue with you.
Our records indicate that you have an incident open with us that has not been resolved, (INC000023325205) .
This Incident is Regarding to a RMA service (Repairing service). The Repair Plant has determined that your PlayBook was deemed BER (Beyond Economical Repair) due to excessive liquid damage. As this is the case we have to option for you
1.To scrap the PlayBook at the Repair Plant, on site.
2. Have the Playbook returned to you unrepaired.
There are not fees for either option so let me know if you have any further questions. We will await your response on how you would like to proceed.
Ok. First of all, I'm not even going to start on the award-winning spelling and grammar in the email. That deserves an entire blog post of its own. The real problem is that they can't prove that there is any damage done to the device, as it was sent for service down in the South USA, and Smakberry is from Canada. At the very least, a picture or something as PROOF of liquid damage would be the VERY MINIMUM that RIM (or their 3rd party repair depot) should provide. Smakberry adamantly promises that it never got wet - and we believe her. Sure I know some readers may think that its a load of crap and it HAD to get wet... I disagree. After doing my time at an RMA facility, I can tell you that first; it's not a bunch of geniuses working at these places (Can you work a Torx driver and a case opener tool? Welcome aboard!). Second; The burden of proof lies solely on RIM to provide evidence of Liquid Damage given that the Playbook has no user accessible panels to remove and inspect themselves. Moisture strips don't cut it. A humid day can set those babys off and should NOT be the jury in denying a warranty claim - They should be used as a tool to investigate further ONLY.
Last point is that it's not RIM doing the work, its a 3rd party depot that probably fixes any number of electronics, has a quota, and gets paid whether they fix it or write it off. RIM needs to step up to the plate here, and not in the form of a poorly worded email sent in haste to tell a customer "Sorry, you're Fucked". Either provide proof, or replace the unit. IF there IS liquid damage, I want to see those pics so I can see if the battery leaked all over, in which it is RIM that is at fault for putting in a bad battery. Also if by some miniscule chance that they have proof of valid liquid damage, at the very least offer her a solution other than scrapping the goddamn thing.
If RIM can't provide any of the above, send her a PlayBook. Send it now, and make it snappy. RIM is walking a fine line when it comes to retaining customers, and the last thing they need is more bad press - and more unhappy customers.
FIX IT RIM. DO THE RIGHT THING.
ASG
Showing posts with label RIM. Show all posts
Showing posts with label RIM. Show all posts
Monday, 25 July 2011
Thursday, 16 June 2011
The Result of the Playbook Heat Stress Test
I guess I should have started the last post with a disclaimer... I forgot... So here it is...
***DISCLAIMER***
DO NOT TRY THIS, DON'T DO IT, DON'T THINK ABOUT DOING IT, DON'T TRY A MODIFIED VERSION OF THIS TEST, DON'T THINK FOR ONE SECOND THAT THIS IS EVER A GOOD IDEA TO EVEN FATHOM.
***END DISCLAIMER***
Ok. Now that that's over with, on with the show.
I wandered out to my truck to collect my Playbook and 9780 not really knowing what to expect. I REALLY wanted to just swipe down on the Playbook screen and have it come to life, and press the sleep key on the 9780 and have it greet me with the familiar home screen. NOPE! "Fuck" I muttered. I pressed the power key on the playbook... Nothing. "FUCK FUCK" I more vocally muttered. In a frantic, desperate attempt to breathe some life back into the Playbook, I plugged it into my Micro USB car charger... Nothing. At this point I didn't give a shit about the cooked 9780... I have two... And a Torch... One less means nothing....
For a minute I was ready to call it DOA... But wait.. In my initial attempts, I didn't notice that the thing was warm... Really warm still. I brought it inside and started a SLOW cooling process. I waited about 30 min before I tried to power on again, and this time I also did the "hold power button for 10 seconds, release, press again" routine, and the hard reset routine... Nothing.... "GOD DAMNIT". I went upstairs and decided to plug in the standard charger that it came with.... Nothing.
Before I continue.. I know lots of people probably think "Must-be-fuckin-nice to just cook $1100 in electronics and not give a shit". Well yeah, it is nice actually. However I don't have unlimited funds, and am by NO means rich. I just happen to have access to pretty much any device at almost any time, and can do pretty much whatever I want with them. Case in point - I'm on my 3rd Torch and 2nd Bold in less than 6 months.
Anyhoo, back to the results.
It seems all attempts at reviving the playbook had failed. The 9780 came back to life after it cooled down, but its battery was sitting on the red, and that's unheard of for the mighty 9780 after just one day. After charging it for about a half hour, I popped in my SIM and ran it through its paces. I made calls, browsed the net, connected WIFI and Bluetooth, and it all worked. Nothing can kill the Bold. Not even an Idiot that intentionally tries to.
"What was that?" I said to myself.....
There it was, out of the corner of my eye.... It was like looking into the eyes of a god damned angel.. The familiar off-Green pulse of POWER ENTERING THE PLAYBOOK!!!!!!
I flew across the room and hammered down on the power button. "Come on you little bastard START" I yelled like a Doctor trying to resuscitate a patient. The little red light blinked for a couple of seconds then went off like the eyes of a soldier dying on the battlefield, and then I saw it. "Blackberry Playbook" snapped to the screen. "AAAAHAHAHA ITS ALIIIVE" I yelled. It powered on without a hitch, Bluetooth found my Torch, and I turned on WIFI which as usual found my network in no time. It worked. The son of a bitch worked.
Battery showed 54% and that's after charging it for who knows how long (one hour at max), so I figure it was pretty run down as well. Later that night it reached 100%, and now today after using it like a normal person should, the battery is sitting at 76% which tells me that the cells are doing exactly what they should.
There must be a "This guy's an idiot" protection sequence for when you push it too far. Just like the Torch won't charge when the battery gets too hot, I'm thinking the PB shut down after reaching a critical temperature. Who knows. I'll ask when I get the chance to talk to RIM again.
There you have it. They both lived, but not without a few scary hours of "I killed it" running through my head.
Hope you enjoyed my first of many adventures. No I won't be trying this with the iPad or iPhone... or ever again to be honest. However if I do leave any of the above on the front seat of my car this summer, I'll be sure to post the outcome.
Next post I'll be ranting about the RIM conference call on Earnings and forecasts. Stay Tuned.
ASG
***DISCLAIMER***
DO NOT TRY THIS, DON'T DO IT, DON'T THINK ABOUT DOING IT, DON'T TRY A MODIFIED VERSION OF THIS TEST, DON'T THINK FOR ONE SECOND THAT THIS IS EVER A GOOD IDEA TO EVEN FATHOM.
***END DISCLAIMER***
Ok. Now that that's over with, on with the show.
I wandered out to my truck to collect my Playbook and 9780 not really knowing what to expect. I REALLY wanted to just swipe down on the Playbook screen and have it come to life, and press the sleep key on the 9780 and have it greet me with the familiar home screen. NOPE! "Fuck" I muttered. I pressed the power key on the playbook... Nothing. "FUCK FUCK" I more vocally muttered. In a frantic, desperate attempt to breathe some life back into the Playbook, I plugged it into my Micro USB car charger... Nothing. At this point I didn't give a shit about the cooked 9780... I have two... And a Torch... One less means nothing....
For a minute I was ready to call it DOA... But wait.. In my initial attempts, I didn't notice that the thing was warm... Really warm still. I brought it inside and started a SLOW cooling process. I waited about 30 min before I tried to power on again, and this time I also did the "hold power button for 10 seconds, release, press again" routine, and the hard reset routine... Nothing.... "GOD DAMNIT". I went upstairs and decided to plug in the standard charger that it came with.... Nothing.
Before I continue.. I know lots of people probably think "Must-be-fuckin-nice to just cook $1100 in electronics and not give a shit". Well yeah, it is nice actually. However I don't have unlimited funds, and am by NO means rich. I just happen to have access to pretty much any device at almost any time, and can do pretty much whatever I want with them. Case in point - I'm on my 3rd Torch and 2nd Bold in less than 6 months.
Anyhoo, back to the results.
It seems all attempts at reviving the playbook had failed. The 9780 came back to life after it cooled down, but its battery was sitting on the red, and that's unheard of for the mighty 9780 after just one day. After charging it for about a half hour, I popped in my SIM and ran it through its paces. I made calls, browsed the net, connected WIFI and Bluetooth, and it all worked. Nothing can kill the Bold. Not even an Idiot that intentionally tries to.
"What was that?" I said to myself.....
There it was, out of the corner of my eye.... It was like looking into the eyes of a god damned angel.. The familiar off-Green pulse of POWER ENTERING THE PLAYBOOK!!!!!!
I flew across the room and hammered down on the power button. "Come on you little bastard START" I yelled like a Doctor trying to resuscitate a patient. The little red light blinked for a couple of seconds then went off like the eyes of a soldier dying on the battlefield, and then I saw it. "Blackberry Playbook" snapped to the screen. "AAAAHAHAHA ITS ALIIIVE" I yelled. It powered on without a hitch, Bluetooth found my Torch, and I turned on WIFI which as usual found my network in no time. It worked. The son of a bitch worked.
Battery showed 54% and that's after charging it for who knows how long (one hour at max), so I figure it was pretty run down as well. Later that night it reached 100%, and now today after using it like a normal person should, the battery is sitting at 76% which tells me that the cells are doing exactly what they should.
There must be a "This guy's an idiot" protection sequence for when you push it too far. Just like the Torch won't charge when the battery gets too hot, I'm thinking the PB shut down after reaching a critical temperature. Who knows. I'll ask when I get the chance to talk to RIM again.
There you have it. They both lived, but not without a few scary hours of "I killed it" running through my head.
Hope you enjoyed my first of many adventures. No I won't be trying this with the iPad or iPhone... or ever again to be honest. However if I do leave any of the above on the front seat of my car this summer, I'll be sure to post the outcome.
Next post I'll be ranting about the RIM conference call on Earnings and forecasts. Stay Tuned.
ASG
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